


try, try again

by thedevilchicken



Category: The Devil's Advocate (1997)
Genre: Devils, M/M, Parent/Child Incest, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:50:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26570155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/pseuds/thedevilchicken
Summary: Kevin keeps figuring it out.
Relationships: Kevin Lomax/John Milton
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30
Collections: Darkest Night 2020





	try, try again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [psychomachia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychomachia/gifts).



Kevin keeps figuring it out. 

John's not totally surprised: he's his son, after all, so there had to be a brain rattling around inside there someplace. He's his son, so there had to be some natural understanding of the truth that the supernatural is all around and sometimes, just sometimes, it's around because _it's you_. 

But Kevin keeps figuring it out. And y'know, it's been getting pretty tiring, even if he has all the time in the world. 

The first few times, he tried to tempt him with Christabella. She's a good girl, he thinks, willing to do the right thing by her dear old dad (or else the wrong thing, depending on your point of view). He's pretty sure Kevin would've liked it, too, but his goddamn morals got right in the way. 

The next few times, he slipped into a Christabella-shaped disguise and tried it for himself - he figured that okay, she was a good kid, but sometimes the only one you can trust to do the job right is Yours Truly. And honestly, when you're the devil, you kinda have temptation pat. He flirted. He played hard to get. He smiled a smile that told him all the things that they could do behind closed doors, or maybe _not_ behind closed doors if he was into that. 

But Kevin kept figuring it out before it got too far. And from there the only place to go was another fucking death, another rewind, and another try.

So, he figured maybe the problem was her. He tried other bodies just to see if that might work out better: tall, short, fat, thin, every fucking configuration of features that he could think of. He conjured women from the depths of history and they all turned heads but none of them would do, not for his frustratingly perceptive son. But he guesses at least he got a kick from walking Helen of Troy down Broadway in a pair of killer heels.

So, he figured maybe the problem was his kid's dear old mother's Christian morality. He slipped on Mary Ann's face and a dress that really wasn't hers but that he should've maybe mailed her just so he could've seen her in it, and he gave Kevin a quick call. And it all seemed to be going swimmingly until Kevin frowned and said, "Do you feel okay? You're not yourself tonight." After that, nothing John could say convinced him, but he had a new idea. 

He tried wearing her body like a suit and telling him it was some kind of game, just pretending that they didn't know each other, but they never got past making out before Kevin gave him a look like maybe he knew. He tried _not_ explaining, just turning up someplace and seeing if he'd play along and he did, up to a point - the point where Kevin started acting like he just wasn't into playing roles, but really he already kinda knew. Each time, the moment got there sooner.

Kevin keeps figuring it out and John's sick to the back teeth of this. So, this time, back at the start, New York, his office, John thinks, _fuck it_. He kisses Kevin on the mouth, just to see what that's like like this, expecting nothing except maybe a black eye, not that it'd last. But Kevin bites his lip, sharp, till it draws blood, before he steps away. When he smiles, kinda crooked, like he knows, like he's always known, it's on his lips and smeared across his chin. His blood. _Their_ blood. Maybe he's a chip off the old block after all, inherited more than the family good looks.

"Well, fuck me," John says, as he wonders if he means it literally. "So _that's_ what you were waiting for?"

Kevin shrugs. "Yeah, well, I never had a father," he replies. 

"You want one now, is that it?"

Kevin shrugs again. Somehow that's as eloquent as he's ever been inside a courtroom, and the kid can say a hell of a lot. 

John kisses him again. This time, Kevin doesn't bite; this time Kevin doesn't back away. Kevin gets one hand into John's hair, and twists, and pulls it hard. Kevin shoves him up against the wall and y'know, it's been a real long time since John last felt so damn surprised. He thought he'd seen everything. Turns out he was wrong.

And maybe he's not sure if this is heading for another fucking death or not. Maybe it's not exactly what he planned. Maybe what this is is Kevin has a plan instead. 

But hell, he'll enjoy it while it lasts.


End file.
